Jay LaPrete / AP
Five health insurance companies have agreed to sell individual Affordable Care Act plans in 19 of the 20 counties that were at risk of having no options next year, the Ohio Department of Insurance said Monday. Ohio is still looking to find a willing company to fill the 20th county, Paulding County in the northwestern part of the state.
What it means: Thousands of Ohioans who buy health coverage on the ACA exchange now will have at least one carrier for next year after Anthem, the large for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield company, pulled its Ohio ACA plans in June.
The companies entering Ohio's bare counties: Buckeye Health Plan (owned by Centene), CareSource, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Molina Healthcare and Paramount Health Care (owned by not-for-profit hospital system ProMedica).